Fear and Phobia: A Critical Review of Existing Theories and the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis | Chapter 10 | Disease and Health: Research Developments Vol. 3

In psychoanalysis, phobias are conceptualized either as a defense against a repressed, anxiety-provoking impulse, as in the case of Little Hans whose horse phobia was attributed to the Oedipal conflict, or as the expression of a repressed, anxiety-provoking event, such as childhood trauma with water or trains. This article reviews the empirical status of theories of fear and phobia. Two major theories that had a significant impact on the scientific investigation of fear and phobia, are psychoanalysis and behaviorism. Psychoanalysis received little support, as findings tend to refute its basic assumption that phobia results from repressed material. Although conditioning has its weaknesses, it appears to be the strongest explanation of simple phobia. Findings raise questions as to whether interoceptive conditioning can account for the development of panic disorder and agoraphobia, as these disorders develop in the absence of environmental conditioning events. A significant body of research supports Clark’s claim that catastrophic misinterpretation of bodily sensations is involved in both the development and treatment of panic disorder and agoraphobia. However, the causal relationship between the two remains unclear. Likewise, while biological factors certainly increase the vulnerability to developing fear and phobia, findings have not yet confirmed that these behaviors are controlled by biological mechanisms. This article presents a comprehensive review of the main existing theories of fear and phobia and examines the extent to which they advance our understanding of the underlying causes of these debilitating behaviors. A new theory, the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis, which preserves the psychoanalytic claim that bizarre phobias need to be explained within a theory that accounts for neuroses by one set of theoretical concepts, was used to resolve the theoretical confusion in this field. In conclusion, this article showed the traditional theories of fear and phobia cannot adequately explain these behaviors. A necessary condition for understanding these behaviors is to make a sharp distinction between simple and bizarre phobias. While the Pavlovian paradigm seems to be the best explanation of simple phobia, the revised version of psychoanalytic theory, termed, the Rational-Choice Theory of Neurosis, appear to be the most suitable explanation of bizarre phobia.

 

Author (s) Details

 

Yacov Rofé
Interdisciplinary Department for Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel and Ashkelon Academic College, Ashkelon, Israel.

Yochay Rofé
Interdisciplinary Department for Social Sciences, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat-Gan, Israel.

 

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